Collision avoidance for document field placement

ABSTRACT

Users of a database management engine may generate fillable digital documents by mapping interface elements onto form documents. When a user maps interface elements onto a form document, the user may accidentally overlap two or more interface elements. To rectify this, the database management engine may modify the position of one of interface elements based on a set of positioning rules. In addition, the database management engine may identify and suggest mappings to users based on similar documents that have been previously mapped. The database management engine identifies similar documents using information about the document, the user, and the mapping itself. The mapping associated with the most similar document may be provided to the user as a suggested mapping. The database management engine converts the form document and finalized mapping into a fillable digital document. The fillable digital document is sent to recipients, who complete the fillable digital document.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.17/369,100, filed Jul. 7, 2021, now U.S. Pat. No. 11,556,700, which is acontinuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 16/780,784, filed Feb. 3,2020, now U.S. Pat. No. 11,087,079, which is incorporated by referencein its entirety.

BACKGROUND

This description generally relates to database management engines andspecifically to generating fillable digital documents based on usermappings of form documents.

In current systems, when a user generates a fillable digital document,recipient input is often limited to acknowledgement and signing. Insystems that allow a wider range of recipient input, users must oftenrely on external systems to carry out mappings or manually repositioninterface elements that have been incorrectly mapped onto a document.Manual repositioning may be inefficient for users. For example, manualrepositioning is often linked with increased labor costs, whichcustomers are expected to absorb. Further, incorrectly mapped documentsmay cause confusion and data entry errors among recipients. For example,it may cause data entry problems for a recipient of a fillable digitaldocument when the recipient attempts to enter data into a partiallycovered interface element. This may result in lost data collectionopportunities.

SUMMARY

Users of a database management engine may generate fillable digitaldocuments by mapping interface elements onto form documents. Mappinginterface elements is a process in which a user adds one or moreinterface elements to various locations throughout the form document.Users may map interface elements by dragging and dropping interfaceelements from an interface element portion of a user interface into thedocument. Interface elements are each associated with a category andposition, and are configured to allow a recipient of the fillabledigital document to input data at the position associated with theinterface element.

When a user maps interface elements onto a form document, the user mayaccidentally overlap two or more interface elements. This may causerecipient confusion and decreased usability of the generated fillabledigital document. For example, this can cause data entry problems forthe recipient of the fillable digital document when the recipientattempts to enter data into a partially covered interface element.

To rectify this problem, the user database management engine detectscollisions between interface elements that have been mapped onto a formdocument. In response to detecting a collision, the database managementengine may modify the position of one or more of the effected interfaceelements. The database management engine may modify the position of theone or more effected interface elements based on a set of predeterminedrules. Example rules include modifying the position of the interfaceelement such that it is located at the shortest possible distance fromits original location, modifying the position of the interface elementsin a particular order relative to the form document (e.g., left to rightand/or top to bottom), modifying the position based on a semanticanalysis of the categories associated with the interface elements,modifying the position based on an optimization analysis performed onthe position of the interface elements, and the like.

In addition, the database management engine may identify and suggestmappings to users based on similar documents that have been previouslymapped. The database management engine may identify similar documentsbased on information about the document, the user that mapped thedocument, and the mapping itself. The mapping associated with the mostsimilar document may be provided to the user as a suggested mapping.Alternatively, or additionally, the database management engine maygenerate and suggest an optimized mapping based on one or more similardocuments, data associated with the user of the form document, dataassociated with the users of the similar documents, and the like. Once asuggested mapping has been provided, the user may elect to use themapping via a user interface. The user may also add, edit, and/or removeinterface elements of the suggested mapping.

The database management engine converts the form document and thefinalized mapping into a fillable digital document. The fillable digitaldocument may then be sent to recipients, who may complete the fillabledigital document on a user interface of the database management engine.

THE BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a diagram of a system environment of a databasemanagement engine, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an architecture of the database managementengine, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an example interface for uploading documents, according to oneembodiment.

FIGS. 4A-4B illustrates an example process of collision detection,according to one embodiment.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example preview user interface, according to oneembodiment.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example recipient user interface, according to oneembodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing collisiondetection on a form document, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 8 illustrates a suggested mapping prompt, according to oneembodiment.

FIG. 9 illustrates a suggested mapping user interface, according to oneembodiment.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a method of automating interfaceelement placement on an image of a form document, according to oneembodiment.

The figures depict various example embodiments of the present technologyfor purposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readilyrecognize from the following description that other alternativeembodiments of the structures and methods illustrated herein may beemployed without departing from the principles of the technologydescribed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

System Overview

FIG. 1 illustrates a diagram of a system environment 100 of a databasemanagement engine 120, according to one embodiment. The systemenvironment 100 shown in FIG. 1 includes a user 105, a client device 110of the user 105, a scanning engine 115, the database management engine120, and a network 125. In alternative configurations, different and/oradditional components may be included in the system environment 100.

A user 105 of the database management engine 120 is an individual orentity associated with an organization. Organizations may includeschools or universities, businesses, non-profits, government agencies,and the like. Each organization has one or more employees. A user 105can use the database management engine 120 to manage employeeinformation, in particular to manage forms of the employee.

The client device 110 is one or more computing devices capable ofreceiving user input as well as transmitting and/or receiving data via anetwork 125. In one embodiment, a client device 110 is a conventionalcomputer system, such as a desktop or a laptop computer. Alternatively,a client device 110 may be a device having computer functionality, suchas a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile telephone, a smartphone,or another suitable device. A client device 110 is configured tocommunicate via a network 125. In one embodiment, a client device 110executes an application allowing a user of the client device 110 tointeract with the database management engine 120. For example, a clientdevice 110 executes a browser application or native application toenable interaction between the client device 110 and the databasemanagement engine 120 via a network 125. In another embodiment, a clientdevice 110 interacts with the database management engine 120 through anapplication programming interface (API) running on a native operatingsystem of the client device 110, such as IOS® or ANDROID™.

The scanning engine 115 is a third-party system that detects andextracts text from images. The scanning engine 115 may extract text frombounding boxes within the images as single strings, words, blocks,and/or paragraphs. The scanning engine 115 may also provide the positionof each bounding box within the image. For example, the position of eachbounding box may be relative to an origin of the image (e.g., a top leftcorner, image center, etc.), relative to the margins of the image, orrelative to other bounding boxes within the image. In some embodiments,a set of coordinates describing a perimeter of each bounding box isprovided to the user 105. In other embodiments, coordinates describe oneor more corners of the bounding box, a side of the bounding box, or anyappropriate bounding box locus. The scanning engine 115 may also extracttext from form documents as a grid. For example, the scanning engine 115may segment a form document into an n-dimensional grid and identify thelocation of each string, word, etc., relative to its location within thegrid. It should be noted that in some embodiments, the scanning engine115 or software with similar functionality to the scanning engine may beintegrated into the database management engine 120.

The database management engine 120 provides users of the databasemanagement engine 120 methods of generating fillable digital documentsfrom form documents. Form documents often include a set of fields, whereeach field is associated with a field type (e.g., name, location, socialsecurity number, etc.) and field position. Fields may also include anempty space in which a recipient of the form document may enter datacorresponding to the field type (e.g., text, a signature, date, etc.).Because form documents are often provided in a format that recipientscannot easily add text to (e.g., pdf, png, jpg formats), the databasemanagement engine 120 provides users with a method of generating formsthat are configured to be completed digitally, i.e., fillable digitaldocuments. To do this, the database management engine 120 provides userswith a set of interface elements to overlay onto an image of a formdocument. Users may overlay interface elements by dragging and droppingthem onto the image of the form document.

The set of interface elements, when overlaid onto an image of a formdocument, is referred to as a “mapping”. The mapping of the set ofinterface elements onto the image of the form document can, for eachinterface element within the set of interface elements, include theposition of the interface element relative to the image of the formdocument and the category of the field to which the interface elementcorresponds. The position of each interface element demarcates an areaof the fillable digital document in which a recipient is able todigitally enter data. The image of the form document and set ofinterface elements overlaid onto the image of the form document aresaved and converted into a fillable digital document. The fillabledigital document is sent to recipients (e.g., additional users of thedatabase management engine 120) who may complete the document bydigitally entering data using an interface of the database managementengine.

A category of an interface element may be data-specific, such as aninterface element for a name, address, company name, or employmentstatus. A category of an interface element may also be generic, such asan interface element for a selection box (e.g., a checkbox or radiobutton), entered text, and the like. Further, an interface element maybe a requested category or an automatic category. Requested categoriesrequire user input from the recipient of the fillable digital document,such as entering text or checking a box. Automatic categories arecategories that are automatically completed using known information ofthe recipient, such as information stored in a user profile of thedatabase management engine 120.

Categories may be correlated with common field types (e.g., name,location, company, etc.). Therefore, users may overlay interfaceelements based on a correlation between the category of the interfaceelement and the field type of the document field. For example, a usermay place a name interface element in the empty space of a name field toprompt a recipient of the fillable digital document to digitally entertheir name into the name field. Further, to account for variations inthe size, shape, and location of document fields, the size and shape ofinterface elements may be modified to fit the within the space of adocument field. This helps ensure that interface elements and/or thedata configured to be entered into the fillable digital document doesnot overlap with field text. Additionally, interface elements may beplaced at locations on the form document that are not associated with adocument field. This enables creators of fillable digital documents tocollect additional data without requiring recipients fill out additionalforms.

In providing users methods of generating fillable digital documents, thedatabase management engine 120 provides collision detection. Collisiondetection is a method of 1) detecting the collision (e.g., overlapping)of interface elements mapped onto an image of a form document and 2)rectifying the collision by modifying the position of one or moreinterface elements effected by the collision. When a collision isdetected, the database management engine 120 modifies the position ofone or more of the effected interface elements based on a set ofpredetermined rules. In some embodiments, the database management engine120 also detects collisions between one or more interface elements and afield of the form document. For example, the database management engine120 may detect instances in which a user overlays an interface elementonto text associated with a field of the form document such that arecipient of the digital form document is unable to view some or all ofthe text associated with the field.

In addition, the database management engine 120 may provide suggestedmappings to users based on the type of form document uploaded by theuser and/or data associated with the user. To do this, the databasemanagement engine 120 identifies data associated with the form documentand/or user, and makes a comparison between the identified data and formdocuments that have been previously mapped. Based on the comparison, thedatabase management engine 120 may identify one or more similardocuments and provide the mapping of the one or more similar documentsto the user. Alternatively, or additionally, the database managementengine 120 may generate an optimized mapping based on one or moresimilar form documents and provide the optimized mapping to the user.

The client device 110 is configured to communicate with the scanningengine 115 and database management engine 120 via a network 125, whichmay include any combination of local area and/or wide area networks,using both wired and/or wireless communication systems. In oneembodiment, a network 125 uses standard communications technologiesand/or protocols. For example, a network 125 includes communicationlinks using technologies such as Ethernet, 802.11, worldwideinteroperability for microwave access (WiMAX), 3G, 4G, code divisionmultiple access (CDMA), digital subscriber line (DSL), etc. Examples ofnetworking protocols used for communicating via the network 125 includemultiprotocol label switching (MPLS), transmission controlprotocol/Internet protocol (TCP/IP), hypertext transport protocol(HTTP), simple mail transfer protocol (SMTP), and file transfer protocol(FTP). Data exchanged over a network 125 may be represented using anysuitable format, such as hypertext markup language (HTML) or extensiblemarkup language (XML). In some embodiments, all or some of thecommunication links of a network 125 may be encrypted using any suitabletechniques.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an architecture of the database managementengine 120, according to one embodiment. The database management engine120 shown in FIG. 2 includes a user profile store 205, a form store 210,a mapping store 215, a collision detection engine 220, a mapping engine225, and a user interface 230. In other embodiments, the databasemanagement engine 120 may include additional, fewer, or differentcomponents for various applications.

The user profile store 210 stores profiles of users of the databasemanagement engine 120. Profiles may correspond to employees, employers,entities, and the like. Each profile may include declarative informationabout the user that was provided by the user, an employee or employer ofthe user, a third-party system, etc. Employee profiles may includeinformation such as demographic information, employment history,compensation rates, employment state, employment status (active,full-time, part-time, seasonal, inactive, etc.), and the like. Employerprofiles may include information such as employer location, number ofemployees, status of employees, incorporation location, and the like.Information stored in a profile of a user may be added when the usercompletes a fillable digital document. Similarly, fillable digitaldocuments may be automatically completed or partially completed based oninformation stored in one or more user profiles.

The form store 210 stores complete and incomplete form documents. Formdocuments and images of form documents may be provided by users of thedatabase management engine 120 via the user interface 230. Formdocuments may be any document that requires input from a recipient, suchas tax forms, benefits forms, surveys, reviews, and the like. Formdocuments may be associated with one or more fields that include or areadjacent to field text and are associated with a field position.Examples of fields include name, date, wage, address, company name,company address, and the like. Fields generally include a space adjacentto the field text in which users may enter data associated with thefield text.

In some embodiments, fillable digital documents are, as describedherein, generated from form documents and images of form documents thatare often provided in a format that recipients cannot easily add text to(e.g., pdf, png, and jpeg formats). Therefore, the form store 210 alsostores fillable digital documents. Fillable digital documents are formdocuments that have been modified such that a recipient may digitallyenter data into an image of the form document. As discussed above,fillable digital documents are generated by the database managementengine 120 by converting an image of a form document and a set ofinterface elements that have been overlaid onto the image. Interfaceelements are configured to receive input (e.g., text, a signature, a boxselection) from a recipient of the fillable digital document. Interfaceelements are often co-located with the space of a document field. Then,once a form document with an associated mapping is converted into afillable digital document, recipients may digitally enter data into thefields of the fillable digital document. This ensures that recipientscorrectly complete form documents they receive. The form store 210 mayalso store extracted form text and entered text from form documents andfillable digital documents. Further, the form store 210 may store thelocation of extracted form text and entered text, metadata associatedwith the form documents and fillable digital documents, and the like.

Users may generate fillable digital documents by mapping interfaceelements onto images of form documents via the user interface 230. Theset of interface elements mapped onto an image of a form document isreferred to as a mapping, and includes the category and position of eachinterface element in the set. The category and position of an interfaceelement designates where and what data should be entered by a recipientof the fillable digital document. A category of an interface element maybe data-specific, such as an interface element for a name, address,company name, employment status of a recipient, etc. A category of aninterface element may also be generic, such as an interface element fora selection box (e.g., a checkbox or radio button), entered text, andthe like. Further, an interface element may be associated with arequested category or an automatic category. Requested categoriesrequire input from the recipient of the fillable digital document, suchas entering text or selecting a box. Automatic categories are categoriesthat are automatically completed using known information of therecipient, such as information stored in the user profile store 210.Automatic categories may be associated with a pointer to data stored inthe user profile store. In these embodiments, the automatic categoriesof a fillable digital document are automatically completed based on thepointer. For example, if an interface element is associated with acompany name, the company name of the recipient may be automaticallyentered into the corresponding interface element. Additionally,interface elements may not be associated with a category, and mayinstead enable a recipient of the fillable form document to decide whatdata to enter.

The mapping store 215 stores mappings generated by users of the databasemanagement engine 120 and mappings generated by the mapping engine 225.A mapping stored by the mapping store 215 may include the category andposition of each interface element associated with the mapping. Themapping may further include the document field and the position of thedocument field each interface element is mapped to, the position of theinterface element relative to the document field position, a comparisonbetween the document field text and the category of the interfaceelement, and the like. For example, mapping information for a companyname interface element may include 1) the category of the company nameinterface element (e.g., “company name”), 2) whether the company nameinterface element may be automatically completed using information in arecipients profile, 3) whether the company name interface element isco-located with a company name field, 4) the position of the companyname interface element relative to the field text of the company namefield, 5) whether the field text of the document field is thesame/similar to the category associated with the company name interfaceelement, 6) the coordinates and/or relative position of the company nameinterface element and document field, and the like. The mapping store215 may also store information about the type of document associatedwith the mapping, information about the user who generated the mapping,when the mapping was generated, recipient data, and the like.

The collision detection engine 220 monitors the mapping of interfaceelements on form documents to detect interface element collisions.Interface element collisions may occur when a user places an interfaceelement within a threshold distance of another interface element. Forexample, a collision may occur when two interface elements areoverlapping, when the boundaries of interface elements touch, and thelike. The collision detection engine 220 rectifies the collision bymodifying the position of one of the effected interface elements. Thecollision detection engine 220 may modify the position of an interfaceelement based on a set of rules. Rules may include modifying theposition of the interface element such that it is located at theshortest possible distance from its original location, modifying theposition of the interface elements in a particular order relative to theimage of the form document (e.g., left to right and/or top to bottom),modifying the position based on a semantic analysis of the categoriesassociated with the interface elements, modifying the position based onan optimization analysis performed on the position of the interfaceelements, and the like.

In some embodiments, the collision detection engine 220 may alsoidentify interface elements that have been placed within a thresholddistance to form text of the form document (e.g., overlapping formtext). In these embodiments, the form text of the document and thecorresponding locations of the form text may be identified by performingan optical character recognition analysis on the image of the formdocument using the scanning engine 115 and/or software with similarfunctionality to the scanning engine 115 that is integrated into thedatabase management engine 120. The collision detection engine 220 maymodify the position of an interface element until it is separated fromthe form text by at least the threshold distance based on the identifiedlocation of the form text. The collision detection engine 220 may alsomodify the position of an interface element based on a semantic analysisof the form text and the category associated with the interface element.For example, a user may map a first name interface element onto a formdocument. However, instead of placing the interface element at aposition co-located with a first name field of the form document, theuser places the interface element at a position co-located with anaddress field. Based on a semantic analysis of the interface elementcategory and document fields, the collision detection engine 220 maymodify the position of the first name interface element to be co-locatedwith the first name field instead of the address field. In someembodiments, a semantic analysis of interface elements and form text isperformed in response to a detected collision. In other embodiments, itis automatically performed by the database management engine 120 inresponse to the placement of an interface element onto the formdocument.

The mapping engine 225 suggests mappings of interface elements to usersgenerating fillable digital documents. The mapping engine 225 may dothis when it detects that a user has uploaded a form document (or animage of a form document) that is similar to a form document that hasbeen previously mapped. For example, if a user uploads a tax form, themapping engine 225 may identify one or more fillable digital documentsthat have been generated using the same or similar tax form. Based on asimilarity between the form document uploaded by the user and the formdocuments associated with the one or more fillable digital documents,the mapping engine 220 may identify a candidate document. The mappingengine 225 may also identify a candidate document based on data of theuser who uploaded the form document, users associated with each of theone or more fillable digital documents that were generated using thesame or similar form document, a comparison between the form text of acandidate document and the form text of an uploaded document, acomparison of visual similarity between the documents, and the like. Inresponse, the mapping engine 225 may provide the set of interfaceelements associated with the candidate document to the user as asuggested mapping between the set of interface elements of the candidatedocument and the fields of the document uploaded by the user.

Alternatively, or additionally, the mapping engine 225 may generate andsuggest mappings based on the set of interface elements associated withtwo or more candidate documents. The mapping engine 225 may do this byaggregating the set of interface elements associated with two or morecandidate documents. For example, the mapping engine 225 may identifywhich interface elements are common among the mappings of similardocuments, average the positions of common interface elements across thetwo or more candidate documents, perform an optimization analysis on theform documents and the interface elements associated with each of theform documents, and the like, to generate a suggested mapping.

Further, the mapping engine 225 may identify types of fields of anuploaded document based on identified fields of similar documents. Basedon the identified field types of the uploaded document, the databasemanagement engine 120 may auto-populate the uploaded document usinginformation stored in the user profile store 205.

Through elements of the user interface 230, the user may accept thesuggested mapping, decline the suggested mapping, and/or modify thesuggested mapping based on user preferences. For example, a user maymodify the position of the interface elements in the set, add or removeinterface elements, adjust the size and/or shape of interface elements,and the like. In some embodiments, when the mapping engine 225 providesa mapping to a user, the mapping engine 225 may prompt the user toexplicitly confirm the placement of the interface elements onto theimage of the form document. For example, the user may be prompted toexplicitly confirm that the set of interface elements of a suggestedmapping is placed onto the image of the form document, explicitlyconfirm the placement of each interface element individually, explicitlyconfirm the category of each interface element individually, and thelike.

The user interface 230 allows users to interact with the databasemanagement engine 120. Through various elements of the user interface230 (such as graphical user interfaces displayed by a client device,communicative interfaces with other components described herein managedby the user interface, and the like), a user can update and/or generateuser profiles, form documents, and mappings. Users may also manage formdocument recipients, mapping generation, collision detection, and thelike.

FIG. 3 is an example user interface 300 for uploading documents,according to one embodiment. To generate a fillable digital document,users may upload form documents via a user interface 230 of the databasemanagement engine 120. A first user interface, such as a user interface300 for uploading documents, may identify details of the document anduser upon upload. These details may be used by the database managementengine 120 to identify a suggested mapping, suggested recipient, and thelike. Document details may include document type, document size, number,type, document fields, position of document fields, and the like. Thedatabase management engine 120 may obtain document details by performingan optical character recognition analysis on the image of the formdocument (e.g., using the scanning engine 115 and/or software withsimilar functionality integrated into the database management engine120). User details may include author, location, company, job status,and the like. User details may be obtained from data in a profile of theuser stored in the user profile store 205.

As shown in FIG. 3 , the user interface 300 for uploading documentsincludes an image of the uploaded form document 305 and a set ofinterface elements 309 that are configured to be mapped onto the imageof the form document 305. The set of interface elements 309 aredisplayed within a portion of the user interface 300 displayed to theuser. The user may then drag and drop interface elements from theportion of the user interface with the set of interface elements 309onto the portion of the user interface 300 with the image of the formdocument 305 (e.g., at positions co-located with document fields). Asshown, the form document 305 includes multiple fields, such as theEmployee Identification Number field 310. Fields may include or beadjacent to form text, such as “Employee Identification Number,” and mayinclude a space for a recipient of the form to enter text associatedwith the field, such as space 311. As discussed above, users may placeinterface elements onto the space 311 such that recipients of thefillable digital document may digitally enter data into document fields.

The interface elements in the set of interface elements 309 are used todesignate regions of the form document in which data may be entered. Theset of interface elements 309 may include requested categories 315 andautomatic categories 320. Requested categories are categories thatrequire input from the recipient of the fillable digital document.Examples of requested categories include, but are not limited to asignature category 325, a text category 330, an initials category 335, acheckbox category 340, an admin signature category 345, an admin titlecategory 350, and an admin full name category 355. Automatic categoriesare categories that are automatically filled using data stored in theuser profile store 210. Examples of automatic categories include, butare not limited to, a date category 360, a company name category 365, afirst name category, a last name category, a full name category, anemail category, a hire date category, a date of birth category, a socialsecurity number (SSN) category, an address line 1 category, an addressline 2 category, a city category, a state category, and a zip codecategory. Automatic categories may be associated with a pointer to datastored by the database management engine 120 such that the categoriesare automatically filled based on the pointer. If data associated withan automatic category is not stored in the user profile store 210, therecipient may be prompted to manually enter data associated with theautomatic category. Users may place interface elements at each fieldthat has a corresponding interface element. Further, users may modifythe shape and size of the interface elements such that the interfaceelements fit within the spaces of the document fields. Once the user hasfinished mapping interface elements onto the image of the form document,the image of the form document and set of mapped interface elements aresaved as a fillable digital document. Users may proceed to a subsequentuser interface using the save and continue button 370. Alternatively,users may proceed to a previous user interface using the back button375.

Collision Detection

FIGS. 4A-4B illustrate an example process of collision detection,according to one embodiment. Through a map document interface 400, auser may map one or more interface elements onto an image of a formdocument 405. In some embodiments, a user maps an interface element bydragging and dropping the interface element onto the image of the formdocument. As previously discussed, when two or more interface elementsare mapped within a threshold distance of each other, or when theyoverlap, the collision detection engine 220 automatically modifies theposition of one or both of the two or more interface elements such thatthe interface elements are separated by at least a threshold distance.

As shown in FIG. 4A, a user mapped the city interface element 415 withina threshold distance of the address line 1 interface element 420. Thecollision detection engine 220 detects this collision by identifying theposition of each interface element within the image of the formdocument. The collision detection engine 220 may determine a collisionhas occurred if the positions of the interface elements are within athreshold distance of each other, or if a portion of the positions ofthe respective interface elements are within a threshold distance ofeach other.

As shown in FIG. 4B, once a collision is detected, the collisiondetection engine 220 automatically modifies the position of one or moreof the interface elements until the interface elements are separated byat least a threshold distance. In some embodiments, the position of themost recently added interface element is modified, the position of thefirst interface element is modified, the positions of all effectedinterface elements are modified, and the like.

The position of an interface element may be modified based on a set ofrules determined by the database management engine 120 and/or a user ofthe database management engine 120. Rules may include rules formodifying the position of the interface element such that it is locatedat the shortest possible distance from its original location, modifyingthe position of the interface elements in a particular order relative tothe image of the form document 405 (e.g., left to right and/or top tobottom), and the like. The collision detection engine 220 may alsomodify the location of an interface element based on a semantic analysisof the categories associated with the interface elements. For example,the collision detection engine 220 may determine that an address line 1interface element 420 should be placed to the left or on top of a cityinterface element 415 based on a rule specifying that the “address line1” category generally appears before the “city” category. Further, thecollision detection engine 220 may modify the position of an interfaceelement based on form text of the form document. The collision detectionengine 220 may do this based on an optical character recognitionanalysis and/or semantic analysis of the form text of the form document.

As an example, the collision detection engine 220 may detect that a userplaced an interface element with a “city” category at a positionco-located with a state field. The collision detection engine 220 maydetect that the form document includes a city field, and modify theposition of the city interface element to be at a position co-locatedwith a city field. If the form document does not include the city field,the collision detection engine 220 may modify the location of the cityinterface element based on a semantic analysis of the terms “city” and“state.” Accordingly, the collision detection engine 220 may modify theposition of the city interface element so that it is to the left of orabove state field. Alternatively, or additionally, the collisiondetection engine 220 may notify the user that an interface element hasbeen placed onto the image of the form document that is not associatedwith a field of the form document.

Additionally, the collision detection engine 220 may detect that a userplaced an interface element on the form document such that the interfaceelement overlaps with form text. For example, the collision detectionengine 220 may detect that a user placed a social security numberinterface element over field text associated with an employeeidentification number field 310. In response, the collision detectionengine 220 automatically modifies the position of the social securitynumber interface element so that the social security number interfaceelement is 1) not overlapping with field text of the employeeidentification number field 310, and/or 2) at a position co-located witha social security number field, if such a field exists on the image ofthe form document. The collision detection engine 220 may also modifythe size and shape of an interface element. The collision detectionengine 220 may do this if an interface element is placed within athreshold distance of a related document field, but covers a thresholdportion of field text. For example, a user may place an address line 1interface element 420 over the field text of the employee's address andZIP code field 425. The collision detection engine 220 may determinethat the category of the address line 1 interface element 420 iscorrelated with the employee's address and ZIP code field 425. Thecollision detection engine may then reposition the address line 1interface element 420 to be within a threshold distance of the fieldtext and co-located with an empty space of the employee's address andZIP code field 425.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example preview user interface 500, according toone embodiment. Once a user has completed her mapping of interfaceelements onto the image of the form document 505, the user may previewthe fillable digital document that is generated from the conversion ofthe image of the form document and the mapped interface elements. Thepreview may include example data entered into each of the mappedinterface elements. For example, the preview user interface 500 includesa selected radio button 510 and an unselected radio button 515, a sampleaddress in the employee's address and zip code field 520, a samplesignature in the signature field 525, and a sample date in the datefield 530. The preview may allow users to verify the placement ofinterface elements onto the image of the form document. In someembodiments, the user may add, remove, and/or edit interface elementsfrom the preview user interface 500. In alternative embodiments, theuser may need to proceed to a subsequent user interface to add, remove,and/or edit interface elements.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example recipient user interface 600, according toone embodiment. The recipient user interface 600 allows users to selectone or more recipients of the fillable digital document. A user mayindividually select recipients using interface elements associated withall eligible recipients, such as interface element 605. A user may alsoselect all eligible recipients 610, select recipients by filteringrecipients based on data of the recipients, such as department,location, company, position, employment status, and the like. Further,the database management engine 120 may suggest one or more recipients tothe user based on the form document, the contents of the form document,and/or the user. The database management engine 120 may also suggestrecipients that are required to fill out the form document, but haven't;users that directly report to the user who created the fillable digitaldocument; users that have recently updated data in their profile that isassociated a pointer of an interface element of the form document; usersthat have historically been selected together, etc. For example, if theform document is a W-4 form, the database management may identify newhires, employees with changed benefit statuses, and the like, that needto complete the W-4 form. A user may also be able to generate groups ofrecipients using one or more interface elements of the recipient userinterface 600. Once a user has selected one or more recipients, the usermay send the fillable digital document to the one or more recipientsusing an interface element, such as the submit button 615.Alternatively, the user may exit from the recipient user interface 600without sending the fillable digital document using an alternativeinterface element, such as the exit button 620.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a method 700 of providing collisiondetection on an image of a form document, according to one embodiment.In the method 700 shown, an image of a form document is accessed 705. Auser interface that includes the image of the form document and aplurality of interface elements is provided 710 on a user device of auser. Each of the plurality of interface elements is associated with acategory (e.g., last name, first name, signature, date, company name)and is configured to be mapped onto the image of the form document inassociation with a field of the form document. An indication is received715 that the user mapped a first interface element and a secondinterface element onto the image of the form document. A first positionof the first interface element and a second position of the secondinterface element are identified 720 within the image of the formdocument.

In response to determining 1) the first position and the second positionoverlap at least in part, or 2) a portion of the first position iswithin a threshold distance of a portion of the second position, thesecond position of the second interface element is modified 725 withinthe image of the form document. The second position of the secondinterface element may be modified such that each portion of the firstposition and each portion of the second position are separated by thethreshold distance. For example, a portion of a boundary of the firstinterface element may overlap with a portion of a boundary of the secondinterface element. In response, the position of the second interfaceelement may be modified such that each portion of the boundary of thefirst interface element and each portion of the boundary of the secondinterface element are separated by at least a threshold distance.

The image of the form document is converted 730 into a fillable digitaldocument, in which the first interface element is at the first positionand the second interface element is at the modified second position. Thefillable digital document is provided 735 to one or more recipients,where the recipients are each associated with a profile in a humanresource database, such as the user profile store 215 of the databasemanagement engine 120. The one or more recipients may then add text tothe first interface element and/or second interface element.

Suggested Mappings of Interface Elements Based on Similar Documents

FIG. 8 illustrates a suggested mapping prompt 800, according to oneembodiment. As previously discussed, when a user uploads a new formdocument, the mapping engine 225 may identify previously mapped formdocuments that are similar to the new form document. The mapping engine220 may identify similar documents based on data stored in the formstore 210 and the user profile store 205. From the identified similardocuments, the mapping engine 220 may select a candidate document basedon a similarity between the candidate document and the new formdocument. The mapping associated with the candidate document is providedto the user. The database management engine 220 may allow the user toaccept and/or reject the suggested mapping. For example, if the userwants to proceed with the suggested mapping, the user may select theproceed button 810. Similarly, if the user does not want to proceed withthe suggested mapping, the user may select the cancel button 810.

FIG. 9 illustrates a suggested mapping user interface 900, according toone embodiment. When a suggested mapping is provided, the interfaceelements associated with the mapping are placed onto the image of theform document 905, such as the company name interface element 910 andthe employee first name interface element 915. Users may add additionalinterface elements from the set of interface elements 920, editinterface elements, and/or remove interface elements from the mapping.In some embodiments, modified mappings generated by the user are storedin the mapping store 215. Modified mappings may be used by the mappingengine 225 to update previously stored mappings and/or generate newmappings. Once the user has completed the mapping, the user may proceedto a subsequent interface to convert the form document and mapping intoa fillable digital document, preview a completed version of the fillabledigital document, and forward the fillable digital document to one ormore recipients.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a method 1000 of automating elementplacement on a form document, according to one embodiment. A formdocument including a first set of fields is received 1005. Each field inthe first set of fields is associated with a field type (e.g., name,employment type, company name, etc.) and a field position (e.g., top,middle, bottom, position coordinates, etc.) within the form document. Aset of candidate documents is identified 1010, for instance by selectingdocuments that have previously been uploaded by the user that uploadsthe form document, by selecting documents that are semantically similarto or that include a threshold amount of common text with the formdocument, by selecting documents that have an above-threshold amount ofvisual similarity to the form document, and the like. Each candidatedocument in the set of candidate documents is associated with a secondset of fields and a set of interface elements. Each field in the secondset of fields is associated with a field type and field position withinthe candidate document. Interface elements may include interfaceelements that have been overlaid onto the candidate document by a userof the candidate document. Further, each interface element is associatedwith a field in the second set of fields.

A candidate document is selected 1015 based on a similarity between thecandidate document and the form document. In some embodiments, acandidate document is selected by comparing the field type of each fieldin the first set of fields to the field type of each field in the secondset of fields associated with each candidate document. A candidatedocument associated with the greatest number of fields in common withthe form document may be selected. In some embodiments, field types maybe compared by performing a semantic analysis on the field type of eachfield in the first set of fields and the field type of each field in thesecond set of fields associated with each candidate document. Further,the field position of each field in the first set of fields and thefield position of each field in the second set of fields associated witheach candidate document may be compared. A candidate document with thegreatest number of fields in common and in a common position with theform document may be selected.

In some embodiments, a candidate document is selected based on dataassociated with a user that uploaded the form document and the usersassociated with each of the candidate documents. Similarly, a candidatedocument may be selected based on data associated with the form documentand data associated with each of the candidate documents.

The form document and the set of interface elements associated with theselected candidate document is provided 1020 for display on a userinterface of a user device. The interface elements are provided 1020 asa suggested overlay on the form document such that when an overlaidinterface element is selected by a user, the interface element is mappedto a corresponding field of the first set of fields within the formdocument. In some embodiments, when the form document and the set ofinterface elements associated with the selected candidate document isprovided 1020 for display, the user is prompted to explicitly confirm amapping between each interface element and the form document. Onceexplicit confirmation is received from the user, the interface elementis provided as an overlay on the displayed form document. This allowsusers to select which interface elements from the set of interfaceelements of the selected candidate document are mapped to fields withinthe form document. Once a user has completed a mapping, the formdocument and interface elements of the mapping are converted into afillable digital document. The fillable digital document may then besent to one or more recipients.

CONCLUSION

The foregoing description of the embodiments has been presented for thepurpose of illustration; it is not intended to be exhaustive or to limitthe patent rights to the precise forms disclosed. Persons skilled in therelevant art can appreciate that many modifications and variations arepossible in light of the above disclosure.

Any of the steps, operations, or processes described herein may beperformed or implemented with one or more hardware or software modules,alone or in combination with other devices. In one embodiment, asoftware module is implemented with a computer program productcomprising a computer-readable medium containing computer program code,which can be executed by a computer processor for performing any or allof the steps, operations, or processes described.

Embodiments may also relate to an apparatus for performing theoperations herein. This apparatus may be specially constructed for therequired purposes, and/or it may include a general-purpose computingdevice selectively activated or reconfigured by a computer programstored in the computer. Such a computer program may be stored in anon-transitory, tangible computer readable storage medium, or any typeof media suitable for storing electronic instructions, which may becoupled to a computer system bus. Furthermore, any computing systemsreferred to in the specification may include a single processor or maybe architectures employing multiple processor designs for increasedcomputing capability.

Embodiments may also relate to a product that is produced by a computingprocess described herein. Such a product may include informationresulting from a computing process, where the information is stored on anon-transitory, tangible computer readable storage medium and mayinclude any embodiment of a computer program product or other datacombination described herein.

Finally, the language used in the specification has been principallyselected for readability and instructional purposes, and it may not havebeen selected to delineate or circumscribe the patent rights. It istherefore intended that the scope of the patent rights be limited not bythis detailed description, but rather by any claims that issue on anapplication based hereon. Accordingly, the disclosure of the embodimentsis intended to be illustrative, but not limiting, of the scope of thepatent rights, which is set forth in the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: accessing, by a documentsystem, an image of a form document comprising a plurality of fieldseach including or adjacent to a set of form text associated with thefield, wherein a first interface element and a second interface elementare mapped by a user onto the image of the form document; identifying,by the document system, a first position of the first interface elementand a second position of the second interface element within the imageof the form document; in response to determining based on the firstposition and the second position that the first interface element andthe second interface element overlap at least in part, modifying, by thedocument system, the second position of the second interface elementwithin the image of the form document based on a semantic analysis ofthe form text associated with the plurality of fields and a categoryassociated with the second interface element such that the firstinterface element and the second interface element do not overlap;converting, by the document system, the image of the form document, thefirst interface element at the first position, and the second interfaceelement at the modified second position into a fillable digitaldocument; and providing, by the document system, the fillable digitaldocument to one or more recipients.
 2. The method of claim 1, whereinmodifying the second position of the second interface element furthercomprises: performing a semantic analysis on a category associated withthe first interface element and the category associated with the secondinterface element; and modifying the second position of the secondinterface element within the image of the form document based on aresult of the semantic analysis.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein eachportion of the first position and each portion of the second positionare separated by the threshold distance when the first interface elementand the second interface element do not overlap.
 4. The method of claim1, wherein the one or more recipients are identified by: performing anoptical character recognition (OCR) analysis on the image of the formdocument; and identifying one or more recipients based on the results ofthe OCR analysis and data stored in profiles of the one or morerecipients.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more recipientsare identified by the user.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein modifyingthe second position of the second interface element comprises moving thesecond interface element in a direction corresponding to a shortestdistance such that, if the second interface element is moved in thedirection, each portion of the second position and each portion of thefirst position are separated by the threshold distance.
 7. The method ofclaim 1, wherein providing the fillable digital document to the one ormore recipients further comprises: automatically populating the firstinterface element with data stored in a profile of each of the one ormore recipients in a database based on a pointer associated with thefirst interface element.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein eachinterface element has a boundary, and wherein determining that the firstinterface element and the second interface element overlap at least inpart comprises determining that a portion of the boundary of the firstinterface element overlaps at least in part with a portion of theboundary of the second interface element.
 9. A non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium containing computer program code that,when executed by a processor, causes the processor to perform stepscomprising: accessing, by a document system, an image of a form documentcomprising a plurality of fields each including or adjacent to a set ofform text associated with the field, wherein a first interface elementand a second interface element are mapped by a user onto the image ofthe form document; identifying, by the document system, a first positionof the first interface element and a second position of the secondinterface element within the image of the form document; in response todetermining based on the first position and the second position that thefirst interface element and the second interface element overlap atleast in part, modifying, by the document system, the second position ofthe second interface element within the image of the form document basedon a semantic analysis of the form text associated with the plurality offields and a category associated with the second interface element suchthat the first interface element and the second interface element do notoverlap; converting, by the document system, the image of the formdocument, the first interface element at the first position, and thesecond interface element at the modified second position into a fillabledigital document; and providing, by the document system, the fillabledigital document to one or more recipients.
 10. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein modifying thesecond position of the second interface element further comprises:performing a semantic analysis on a category associated with the firstinterface element and the category associated with the second interfaceelement; and modifying the second position of the second interfaceelement within the image of the form document based on a result of thesemantic analysis.
 11. The non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium of claim 9, wherein each portion of the first position and eachportion of the second position are separated by the threshold distancewhen the first interface element and the second interface element do notoverlap.
 12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium ofclaim 9, wherein the one or more recipients are identified by:performing an optical character recognition (OCR) analysis on the imageof the form document; and identifying one or more recipients based onthe results of the OCR analysis and data stored in profiles of the oneor more recipients.
 13. The non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium of claim 9, wherein the one or more recipients are identified bythe user.
 14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium ofclaim 9, wherein modifying the second position of the second interfaceelement comprises moving the second interface element in a directioncorresponding to a shortest distance such that, if the second interfaceelement is moved in the direction, each portion of the second positionand each portion of the first position are separated by the thresholddistance.
 15. A system comprising: a hardware processor; and anon-transitory computer-readable medium containing instructions that,when executed by the hardware processor, cause the hardware processor toperform steps comprising: accessing, by a document system, an image of aform document comprising a plurality of fields each including oradjacent to a set of form text associated with the field, wherein afirst interface element and a second interface element are mapped by auser onto the image of the form document; identifying, by the documentsystem, a first position of the first interface element and a secondposition of the second interface element within the image of the formdocument; in response to determining based on the first position and thesecond position that the first interface element and the secondinterface element overlap at least in part, modifying, by the documentsystem, the second position of the second interface element within theimage of the form document based on a semantic analysis of the form textassociated with the plurality of fields and a category associated withthe second interface element such that the first interface element andthe second interface element do not overlap; converting, by the documentsystem, the image of the form document, the first interface element atthe first position, and the second interface element at the modifiedsecond position into a fillable digital document; and providing, by thedocument system, the fillable digital document to one or morerecipients.
 16. The system of claim 15, wherein modifying the secondposition of the second interface element further comprises: performing asemantic analysis on a category associated with the first interfaceelement and the category associated with the second interface element;and modifying the second position of the second interface element withinthe image of the form document based on a result of the semanticanalysis.
 17. The system of claim 15, wherein each portion of the firstposition and each portion of the second position are separated by thethreshold distance when the first interface element and the secondinterface element do not overlap.
 18. The system of claim 15, whereinthe one or more recipients are identified by: performing an opticalcharacter recognition (OCR) analysis on the image of the form document;and identifying one or more recipients based on the results of the OCRanalysis and data stored in profiles of the one or more recipients. 19.The system of claim 15, wherein the one or more recipients areidentified by the user.
 20. The system of claim 15, wherein modifyingthe second position of the second interface element comprises moving thesecond interface element in a direction corresponding to a shortestdistance such that, if the second interface element is moved in thedirection, each portion of the second position and each portion of thefirst position are separated by the threshold distance.